Wednesday, 14 August 2013

If your significant other seems to be spending a significant amount of time online, you may wonder what is going on and are online relationships cheating? For the most part that depends on you and your relationship. If you and your partner are OK with the other having a lot of online friends, regardless of gender, then it's not cheating to the two of you.

If, on the other hand, one or both of you considers a deep connection with another person either online or off to be cheating than yes it is. You and your partner define your own relationship.

The internet, and all the social sites that are constantly popping up, have made it a lot easier to find other people to connect with. That can be a great thing. It's fun to reconnect with old friends you haven't seen or heard from in years. The problems can come when your partner seems to enjoy their online friendships more than they like spending time with you.

While it may not be technically cheating, it can definitely put a serious strain on your relationship. If your partner is forming an emotional attachment with someone else online, that doesn't leave a lot of room for the two of you. Your relationship can start to get pretty crowded if that starts to happen.

If you believe that your partner is spending too much time online the best course of action, in most cases, is to talk to them about it. The operative word here is 'talk'. Not scream, nag, or accuse. Just explain to them that you miss them and you don't feel like the two of you are connecting the way you used to.

Suggest some time when the two of you can get together one on one. If you present this request to your partner in a calm, loving way you can tell a lot about what they're really thinking based on their response. For example, if you aren't accusing your partner of doing anything wrong yet they still get defensive it could very likely mean they have a guilty conscience, maybe they really are doing something they know they shouldn't be.

If they get angry that you've asked them to cut back on the amount of time they spend online than it's highly likely that your partner has 'met' someone new. Most people would consider this a form of cheating even if the two people haven't met in person. No one wants their partner to be thinking about someone else too often. If that is the case your relationship could be in real trouble and in most cases it's best to try to address the issue head on and see if the two of you want to work it out.

If you're wondering; are online relationships cheating, then it's possible you already have a problem with your relationship. Try to talk to your partner and find out where they are coming from. If either you or your partner is having romantic thoughts about another person, that's never a good sign.